ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the substance of welfare as interpreted and developed by the judiciary in judgments given on matters concerning a child’s upbringing. The welfare principle has never been a fixed standard capable of uniform application across diverse circumstances and across the entire age range of childhood. Traditionally, a decision affecting the welfare interests of a child could only be made by the mother of an illegitimate child, by either or both parents of a marital child, by the court or by a guardian or person acting in loco parentis with authority from one of the aforementioned. ‘Parent’ has been defined in law as meaning both the mother and father of a legitimate child and the unmarried mother of an illegitimate child. The common law judiciary regarded certain aspects of a child’s upbringing as constituting the core elements of welfare. These were: care and maintenance; education; religious upbringing; and, arguably, control.
